Hard-Pressed, But Not Crushed
Recently, Brian has been reading 2 Corinthians 4 & 5 over and over again. I finally listened to his prompting to read it and began to see it like never before, feeling as if I was reading new chapters of the Bible. (I love it when God does that!)I got to verse 8 in chapter 4, which starts with, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed..." and a photo I recently saw came to mind.
Someone had posted about making stamped, clay ornaments, but they were unlike any I’d ever seen before. Lace had been pressed into white clay shapes, creating the most intricate and delicate designs on their surfaces.
I saw beauty in being pressed but not crushed – of having an imprint made on the surface that replicated what had been pressed into it.
God spoke to my heart and said, “The continued pressing and pressure you’re feeling is the imprint being made in you – who you’ve become in Me through facing the pressure of this year, plus My very being and fabric of who I AM imprinted even more deeply into you. It’s being pressed more deeply for My intricate design to be made clear.”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
When used on paper, a stamp only makes a mark on the surface by it first being pressed firmly into the ink, then pressed down firmly onto the surface it’s to make its mark upon. It’s as if we’ve been pressed into the ink that is Him and now the pressure is being applied for the mark to be made on the “paper” (i.e., earth) around us. It’s an imprint of Him within us that can only be imprinted elsewhere when pressure and pressing are applied.
The pressing many of us have continued to go through, even recently, has been for the purpose of making sure what we’ve gained this year - who we’ve become in the old passing away and all things becoming new, has gone down deeply, making a clear imprint on our spirits, souls, and lives.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:16-18)
That pressing has been working His beautiful design in us and it’s reflecting His glory. You might not be able to see it, but those unseen things are those that are eternal.
Don’t lose heart, sweet friend! He’s been making His imprint in and through you, and it’s stunning!
Living for Him,
Andrea (& Brian)
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
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